The idea that drove the shape and assembly of the two components that make up the ‘Morse’ pendant light, were inspired directly by the conical form of a ‘Morse Taper’ (aka machine taper).

Morse taper systems are used in almost all machine tool spindles, acting as the primary method of attachment for tooling. It is in direct reference to this function that the design lends itself to joining the combination of materials; spun steel shade and wooden spindle. The spun steel shade is met by and supported over the timber spindle due the matching angle/taper in each component.

http://www.noddyboffin.com/portfolio/morse-pendant-light/

 I didn’t ever expect it to happen to me. I feel like it’s a clichéd mentality, but when it does happen, it sure does rock what I believed were the ideals of the design industry, specifically the small portion that operates (designed and made) within Australia. I assumed that if an idea or product was going to be copied, which I hoped it wouldn’t be, I thought the crime / impertinence would at least be disconnected by oceans and continents and not merely by states and a measly 1681 kilometers.

I produced the original ‘Plywood Milk Crate’ design in 2006 as a student at the Australian National University. It took me just under 6 months of design development, prototyping and refinement to perfect the interlocking system. It was a piece that was well received by my peers, but more importantly by my teachers and mentors. Since this time it has been published in a handful of magazines and blogs (including Inside Out magazine and Indesign Live) and it has even travelled all the way to London in representation of Noddy Boffin (my brand) for the ‘London Commonwealth Exhibition’ in 2012. Finally, if you Google ‘Plywood Milk Crate’ you’re sure to find my version easily and it is in its public exposure that I had false security in the assumption that others would respect my intellectual property.

So when I was perusing the July ‘Finder’s Keepers Market’ here in Melbourne (2015), I was shocked to be confronted by a knock-off of my very own ‘Plywood Milk Crate’ design. My product is an appropriation of a plastic Milk Crate, so granted, it is in a manner of speaking a copy already and the concept of the humble milk crate has been the point of inspiration for others, embraced by a number of Australian designers each putting a unique spin on the aesthetic and manufacture. ‘Like Butter’ and ‘Page Thirty Three’ are two such Australian companies that have both produced high quality, high integrity versions of the molded plastic milk crate used commonly in the transportation of milk.

Intricate examples of two different and unique versions of the plywood milk crate. Left: ‘Wooden MilKcrate’ by Page Thirty Three. Right: laser cut Plywood Milkcrate, stocked by Cotton On.

Minimal Plywood Crates by Like Butter

Beautiful Wooden Crates by WAAM Industries.

A very small (tiny tiny tiny 1%) part me is flattered that somebody feels my design is worthy to be copied, but mostly (99%) I feel appalled that somebody has stolen my design and decided to produce it, and what disgusts me most is that the ‘design thief’ has taken the idea, the dimensions, the system of assembly and put it all together using the worst quality pine plywood you can get, seemingly un-sanded and with plywood manufacturers print still visible. The five parts that make up the box are far-removed from crisply cut computer milled shapes and the joinery is physically and visibly poorly fitted, the entire unit has crudely cut chamfered edges, which looks more like it was attacked with a blender and lastly the product is sold unfinished, without a clear protective coating, left for the elements and with the pretense that a DIY savvy person to do themselves.

Brisbane based Catherine Roberts of ‘Showroom’ and ‘The Spring Blog’, falsely credits herself as the designer of the Plywood Milk Crate. I contacted her via telephone and she was quick to accept credit as the designer, until it was disclosed that it was a Noddy Boffin design and she had stolen it, at which point she passed the blame onto the manufacturer, pleaded ignorance and being unaware of the original product… which I find difficult to comprehend.

Catherine Roberts’ ‘Showroom’ slogan is ‘Where creative + design lovers meet’. I pose this important question to Catherine regarding their slogan… Does being ‘creative’ and being a ‘design lover’ mean copying and stealing from other designers? Which I would retort with, Theft of intellectual property is neither creative nor is it for love, it is clearly opportunistic and unmistakably motivated by money.

“Now let’s look at the real elephant in the room. Living designers are being ripped off every day. As soon as a design is successful it becomes a likely candidate for the copyists. Just when years of study and hard graft are about to pay some dividends, well received products start to appear as cheap unlicensed copies with no funds going to the designer and no return on investment by the original manufacturer”. (‘Design Daily’, The Wrecking Ball That Is Replica) 

The thoughts behind the creation of a cube, is purely to showcase the lovely/beautiful/decorative/rare material. Previously the slab had been stored for 10+ years in a shed, covered in dust and out of sight. After using the majority of the slab to create a side table, a skateboard and a pendant lamp, we had no need or want for the remaining material/offcuts and it would have been a real shame to put it back into storage/isolation.

The cube is a beautiful object (namely because of the material), but also it serves its purpose well and that is to avoid being stored as raw material, instead it became an ornament and all the while being 100% reusable, with future potential. It may occupy a mantelpiece, a coffee table or anywhere really for an indefinite period, but when there is a purpose or re-purpose for it, it can easily be seen as lumber again and be used, maybe to be turned into a bowl or to be cut into decorative furniture legs or to be cut into veneer etc.

There was talk of making a chopping board with the Huon Pine offcuts and yes; this would have been the functional option. But would a chopping board have celebrated the material as much as a cube or would it have been anywhere near as interesting?

The deck is made up of an outer skin of Huon Pine, with a Canadian Maple core, finished with a clear coat of hard wax oil. The board currently has no grip tape on it, however if the owner ever did want to put the board to work, there is both clear contact grip tape and clear aerosol spray grip available on the market, easily applied, making them two ideal options to retain the top face while making the board functional.

I’ve searched and searched the Internet in hope to find another Huon Pine Skateboard, maybe it’s because of the timbers precious/expensive nature, but I can’t seem to find another one like it.

Is this the first and maybe only Huon Pine deck? Get in contact if you know of another.

Dear Sonny,

You can be anything you want when you grow up, as long as you don’t give up and you persist when you meet failure.

Often the biggest deterrent for trying is the fear of failure, which is a fear founded on humiliation from your peers. If the worst possible outcome of failure, is that somebody will laugh at you, then there really is nothing to be afraid of.

Eventually someone will laugh at you and say, “you didn’t really think you could do that, did you?”   What they’re really saying is, “I didn’t think you could do that… please stop trying while I’m still right.” Keep trying it until you prove them wrong or find something you want more.

As you grow older, you will come to realise that life is all about ‘doing’ and that if you don’t try at something, your biggest regret will be the missed opportunities in your life.

So, be a DO-ER, pursuing the goals that make you happiest, using courage and persistence as your tools.

Happy Birthday, Dad

 Curious Tales

Tobias Bolton

Noddy Boffin

Noddy Boffin

Curious Tales

Josh Carmody

So maybe you don’t go so far as to slide down a steep road on a tabletop or to create small campfires on a tabletop.

Try as we all do, inevitably accidents happen through general use and scratches, dings, wear and tear happen. The product still functions as it should, however these new marks from use will devalue the object in most minds.

I urge you the consumer, the maker and the designer to consider the function of a product and how it affects the way you live, and more importantly buy, make and design to the highest quality, so that products can be used without protection, while achieving their function. Lastly, I urge you to see value in the maker’s mark, the impure, the warped, the tarnished, that which is marked by time. It’s time to revaluate and seek to understand the misunderstood.

‘Once I discovered how much fun it was to become active in the process of making, maintaining, and modifying the things I use and consume everyday, the little flaws, quirks, and imperfections in my handiwork stopped becoming shameful and instead felt like badges of honor.’ A. C. BENSON.

Victorian Blackwood 700 mm (W) x 750 mm (H) x 1400 mm (L)

NB Table – Construction, Destruction and Documentation

“Simply, an uncompromising lockable cabinet, which offers a brief vacation from technology dependencies”.

Read more HERE

OR see Sabbatical Cabinet

Its innovation is in its ability to provide you with a simple solution towards modern day technology in which the dominance of communication, entertainment and information advance is notably time consuming.

Spare Table Time Lapse from noddy boffin on Vimeo.